Aspiring international traveller. Nerd. A dreamer who'd love a bit of magic in her life. Random.

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Make your own tea blend

My friend, Carmela, and I finally exchanged Christmas gifts. (It’s late, I know.) One of my favorite items was a tea blend she customized especially for me She even wrote up a description for it!:

This mango-inspired tea is blended with two different mango teas, mango green tea and mango melange herbal tea, and a third complementary tea, white tropics white tea. The mango green tea is the base of this blend, lending a creamy texture, juicy sweetness, and delicate floral aromatics. The mango melange herbal tea with its fresh mango and apple pieces and hibiscus flowers adds a sweet and tangy flavor to the blend. The white tropics white tea rounds out this fruity floral blend by adding natural pineapple and coconut flavor and rose petals.

This is my favorite part:

The Blue Mango Blend was inspired by my good friend who loves mangoes. I decided to create a special tea blend for her as a gift.

It’s nice-tasting tea blend. Since most of the blend is white tea, the flavors are quite subtle. During my two (separate) steepings, I was able to taste the apple-y sweetness and the floral taste of the hibiscus. Unfortunately, the mango taste didn’t come through for me. But, then again, I’m not an expert tea taster. I’m thinking of steeping it for longer the next time, hoping that more of the mango flavor will come out. If you’re interested in trying it, you can buy it here.

I’m not sure when I turned into a loose leaf tea fan, but it went full-blown when my ex-friend bought me a glass teapot with infuser. I started going to tea rooms in the city and near Carmela’s work. Coffee never appealed me like it does to everyone else (blah blah mocha frap blah blah Starbucks!). I’m just not a fond of the taste. However, I love the different varieties of tea offered, especially herbal teas, which are pretty much dried fruit infusions. Those are my favorite :!: and I typically lean towards tart & sweet fruits, like strawberries, passionfruits, blueberries, mangoes, etc.

21 thoughts on “Make your own tea blend”

Even if I wasn’t the one who chose the blend, I think she did a good job choosing for me. I guess she knows my tastes well enough to pick the right flavours! I’ll have to try milk teas! The pictures I’ve seen from Serenitea look fabulous!

I love hot beverages and that tea sounds really good. I was never really one for the fruit teas but I was always intrigued by the sweet tastes and the colours. Coffee is good too especially during exam time lol. Never really been a fan of Starbucks because it gets quite expensive and I find that their drinks aren’t hot enough.

Only downside to drinking a lot of hot beverages is that it can stain your teeth. (The dentist once asked me if I was a smoker. I was only 15!)

Oh and your gift exchanging isn’t that late. I’ve yet to swap gifts with my friends lol. Our schedules never line up so we’re expecting to do the exchange during our reading break.

They’re great during cold weather I think the sweetness and colors that you mentioned are what draws me to tea. I’ve just always been a fan of fruity flavor. Yes, Starbucks definitely charges way too much, but that’s their gourmet angle, I guess..

WOW! I didn’t realize that coffee could stain your teeth enough to make you look like a smoker! I’m assuming coffee stains on your teeth are easier to get rid of, though?

Any hot beverage can stain your teeth but only if you drink a lot frequently. I usually have 2 cups of tea a day. Sometimes I substitute one of those cups for coffee. And yes it is fairly easy to get rid of. The dentist just scraped my teeth with a sharp looking hook which just felt kind of funny. Definitely not painful like scaling.

That is so sweet of your friend to make you a special tea blend with your favorite fruit.

I’ve never been a tea person, my mom forces me to drink herbal teas when i get sick and she also wants me to drink it everyday but i just can’t get used to the taste. :S I do drink coffee from time to time when i miss the taste of it.

That’s so amazing. I definitely prefer tea to coffee because it’s easier to flavour. I am not a fan of coffee and I never understood why people even like Starbucks that much. I am not one to boast but Australia really has the best coffee in the world. It’s rather well known.

I like flavoured tea, and even better when the flavours are subtle. I think tea is just a heck of a lot more versatile.

I think Starbucks has done a great job of marketing themselves as THE coffee place to hang out and be seen in. I’m sure the increased prices they charge for their drinks helps with their “gourmet” look. I’m definitely with you. Never been a coffee fan nor a Starbucks fan. There are plenty of other places that offer much better drinks for better prices

When I get to visit Australia (one day!), I’ll definitely keep that in mind! Any particular coffee brew the country is known for?

I think they target indie bands? At least, those are the only ones I’ve heard of. Funny that all your Starbucks went broke! I wonder how that happened. I have 4 of them nearby. All within a mile of each other! Two of them are 2 stores away from each other in the same shopping strip! x_x

I’ve heard of Gloria Jeans before! I didn’t know it was Australian. Good to know. My old job had different kinds of Gloria Jeans coffee in K-cups. I don’t remember if I’ve tried them, but I’ll make sure to do so whenever I get the chance to visit Australia. Thanks so much for the recommendation, Georgina! Much appreciated

A cosmetics counter lady tried to sell me on the #21, but I found it too light. It makes my face look almost ashy XD I think she thought I wanted to make my skin lighter than it is.

Vivian is a nice name, and not many people have it. I like unique names as well.

I didn’t know that they had customized tea either! I was very surprised when I saw it. Yes, it was very nice of her

I think loose leaf teas are fresher than the bagged teas sold in stores. I just prefer them because I like the whole process of steeping tea. Plus, the bagged teas never have the flavors I like I know I sound like a total nerd. Hahaha.

I love both coffee and tea, but I’m not one of those girls who loves my fraps and shit. I take my coffee black and I pretty much hate Starbucks.

I love how professional the description sounds on the tea your friend made you (and what a thoughtful gift!). I haven’t really tried many flavours of tea so I don’t know whether any of the components sound like something I would like. I don’t like mango, but I hope you will be able to get the mango flavour to come out with longer steeping!

Yeah, I never got spun around by Starbucks’ marketing either. Hahaha. I guess I’m not hipster enough for it

Her description sounds so professional, doesn’t it?! She has a knack for describing things. I’ve read some of her descriptions on her etsy store and it really does make you want to buy all the products!

I’m sure there are nice, casual tea shops around your uni that you could try? I like going to the ones with great food and free internet. It’s a great place to just chill and relax. I guess it’s like my Starbucks, but not so gourmet or expensive

I don’t think I’ve had yellow label tea. I’m sure it’s not boring! I used to go to this tea shop all the time and my goal was to try everything on their herbal fruit infusion list. I think I’ve tried only 3-4. I end up going back to my favorites